I am fortunate enough to live, walk, and breathe among the bravest of heroes. I am a proud Army wife.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Be the Match - PLEASE Read

This is a message from my friend, Teri. Her husband & Bryan work together. On top of being an Army wife (& FRG Leader) whose husband is about to deploy again and mother of a 3 year old & 2 month old, she is now having to go through this. PLEASE consider signing up for the marrow registry. You could "Be the Match" that could save the life of Teri's dad!If you have a blog, facebook, etc - please share & repost this!____

As most of you know, my father was diagnosed with Leukemia last year. After a year of treatment, his leukemia has progressed and he will not survive without a bone marrow transplant. We don't know how much time we have, but it does not look good. He has been in the hospital for over a week now and it does not look like he will be strong enough to go home again. My uncle, my brothers, and I have all been tested to see if we are matches, but we are not. He also does not have a match in the bone marrow bank. It is a 1 in a million shot that he will find a match, but we have to try. My mother is looking into having a drive, which would be one night locally, but I know I have a lot of friends all over the country so I am sending out a plea for help. I am not ready to lose my father.

I know it is a lot to ask, but I am hoping that some of you will be able to register with the bone marrow bank to see if you are matches for him. The test is simple. Go on line and register. They will send you a kit. Just rub the q-tip on your inner cheek and send it back. The only thing is with registering you sign a commitment to help if you are a match to someone on the transplant list. Even if you are not a match to my father, maybe you will be a match to someone elses. Donating bone marrow isn't like donating a kidney, though, it is a relatively simple procedure. We don't have much time, so if you are willing to help, visit the website below. I cannot express in words how much this means to me.

Those of you who live in MA I will keep you posted on the drive, those of you who do not, please see the e-mails below and please visit the following website:

Please share this e-mail and this info with friends, family, church groups, etc. The organization does have government funding and until they exaust the funding for the year, it is free to register. The more people we have willing to take 2 seconds to go on line and register, the more chances we have to find a match.